


The Young Spider

by Dat1Slime



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Gen, Im gon write a lot more hornet and tamer stuff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person Limited, THK is called Haven, THK is referred to as male, Vessels are still void, the collector used to be a kingsmould
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2020-10-14 18:11:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20605133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dat1Slime/pseuds/Dat1Slime
Summary: An assortment of stories from a young Hornet's perspective.





	1. His Special Secret

Hornet has very few memories of Haven before the mask and collar were placed on him. The mask removed the ability to emote. The collar removed the ability to speak.

But a prominent memory. The last she had of him speaking was in the garden. The day before they had that right striped from them. They were sparring when he started to drift away. He tried to leave her behind but Hornet only followed. He begged her to stay behind but again she followed. So he had her promise to not tell a soul of what she would see and she could follow. Of course, she did. She promised to keep her brothers special secret

It was a ten minute walk plenty of twists and turns and secret passages. Through all the foliage was a pond. A boy, similar in age to Haven, he had black hair tan skin and a blue hood sat at the edge of it. When he notice the pair he ran into Haven's arms laughing and smiling. Hornet noticed how the boy pressed his lips against the area where Haven's lips would be, just like her father would with the White Lady. Hornet also noticed how her older sibling seemed to melt in his arms.

The boys moved to sit at the edge of the pond and Hornet followed. She sat to the left of Haven and they black haired boy say on his right. Hornet took the opportunity to study the black-haired boy more closely.

She remembered she thought he looked very cute. Brown eyes, hair that didn't wish to be tamed, a soft smile she'd hate to admit it but her young self had a bit of a crush on him.

"Who's our new guest?" the black-haired boy asked. "My sister Hornet." Haven responded in that soft almost whisper tone he had. "Ah I see, well my name is

Hornet didn't remember his name. She didn't want to. It was his fault.

They stayed there. The three of them talking, playing laughing, the boy reading books to her an Haven. Hornet was awe-struck by how much love and personality Haven had. But deep down she felt wrong, she watched.

  
Hours must've passed when Haven stood. "It's time for us to go." Hornet looked up from her spot by Quirrel looking at the book he was reading. "Do we have to?" She begged not to have to leave.

"We have to or father will be upset"

"C'mon what's a few more minutes going to be?"

"Sister,"

She cut him off. "We can tell him we got lost in time training"

"Sister we"

Once more she cut him off. "Please, please, pleeaase" she held out the last 'please'.

"I think Haven is right it's time for the two of you to leave." The boy interjected. Shutting the book he placed it to his side. He stood and pulled Hornet up with him. "I had a lovely time meeting you little princess." he bowed and place a gentle kiss onto her hand. Hornet quickly pulled her hand back and blushed. She quickly moved away to hide her blushing face.

"It was so nice to see you again my prince." He walked up to Haven and quickly pressed his lips against that spot on Haven's face. Haven shifted in a fashion Hornet had never seen. "I hope to see you again." Haven quickly turned around taking Hornet by the hand and pulling her trough the shrubbery.

Hornet remembers his hand was colder than usual. When they returned to place they were originally training at Dryya was waiting. Hornet remembers her fierce and cold stare. She was so sure they'd be found out, that Dryya knew about her brother's special secret.

If she knew she said nothing to hem about it. She simply ushered them to the stag station so that they could return to the palace.

Hornet thought how her younger self assumed everything would be alright, how wrong she was.

She remembered the palace felt quiet and tense, the calm before the storm. Breakfast was filled with tension and despite the White lady's attempts to start conversation no one really spoke except in short quick responses. Her father's hair was wild and unbrushed, something she's only seen when he was extremely angry or upset.

When Haven finished his meal he stood to excuse himself. "Vessel," her father's words stopped Haven in his tracks. He only ever called him vessel when he was upset with him.

"Yes Father?" His voice was weak and was on the verge of breaking.

"I would like to speak to you in my workshop. We need to discuss your current _actions_." His voice was cold and harsh.

"Yes, of course Father." Haven bowed, Hornet noticed the tears threatening to escape his eyes. 

"You may be dismissed." The King waved his hand in a dismissive fashion and Haven left presumably to wait for The King in his workshop.

They sat in silence for a long moment. "Darling I think you need to go easier on him," The White Lady placing a hand over her husbands. "he's just"

"IT'S JUST RUINING ALL MY WORK IS WHAT IT'S DOING!!!" He pulled his hand away cutting her off. Standing straight up out of his chair he turned to direct his hateful gaze towards her. Hornet was sure her brother was going to die.

"IT?! You call your son an," the White Lady paused to find her words "an _it_? Have you no love for him!?" 

"Any son I had is dead! That _thing_ is just void parading around in his body! Of course I have no love for it. It was supposed to be hollow, it has no need for my apparent _love_." He turned away from his wife. "It **was** hollow then that annoying _boy_ ruined everything!"

"He did no such thing! Haven was flawed from the beginning, you knew that."

"Yes and the vessel would've been just fine if that boy just stayed out of my way!"

They continued arguing but Hornet could not hear them over her own thoughts. Was all this her fault? Would none of this happened had she just stayed put like Haven had asked? Did Dryya know? Was she the one who told her father? Why hadn't she said anything? What did they mean by Haven was flawed? Were they talking about the boy she met the other day? What did father mean by Haven was hollow? Why did Father call him vessel. Questions swam through her head one after the other not stopping.

She doesn't know when the tears started or when her father and white lady stopped fighting or when she was pulled into tight hug by the white lady. She barely remembers running out of her arms and after her father.

The door to the workshop was closed and two kingsmould stood guard refusing Hornet entry. She could hear her father's thundering voice from the other side. She cried wanting it to stop and to see Haven.


	2. One Strange Kingsmould

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright ya boi is back. I had this chapter mostly written for like ever but I lost steam, school picked up ,my interests shifted a bit but here we are. Hornet throws a fit and forces some poor kingmould to play with her. Takes place before the previous chapter.

Saying the palace was boring would have been the understatement of the century in Hornet's eyes. Her father was busy in his workshop as always. Haven had to do some type of special training with Ogrim and Isma and the other Great Knights wouldn't even give her the time of day. The Royal retainers simply gave her quick short responses to her questions then would shoo her off. AND EVEN THE WHITE LADY, someone who Hornet could seemingly always hang out with was to busy for her! She was clearly being ignored and this angered her.

  
  
  


She stormed her way down another one of the palaces many endless halls, stomping her feet to make as much noise as possible. "Who do they think they are! Ignoring me." Her cheeks were puffed out fists balled "I'll show them!" Her eye caught sight of three kingmoulds. 

"Hey you kingsmould's!" She called out to them as she stormed over though none reacted. "Hey listen to me! Don't you know who I am? I'm Hornet daughter of the Pale King and I order you to respond to me!" She pointed at them like her father does when someone talks back under their breath to him. The kingsmould still didn't react to her anger. Which caused her to scream out frustration and stomp her feet. 

"This isn't fair! I deserve better! If I was back with  _ MY  _ mother I would have someone to play with but no I'm stuck here in this stupid palace!" She felt tears prick her eyes but she didn't allow them to fall. Big girls don't cry. She was about to leave when a nasty little idea struck her brain. She'd just force someone to play with her that's it! She grabbed hold of the nearest Kingsmoulds's claw blade and yanked hard pulling it from their unsuspecting hands and knocking her down. That got a reaction, the kingsmould turned to look at her wide-eyed and shocked, it seemed to panic a bit.

"If you want this back you're gonna have to catch me!" She stood up holding the blade tight and ran down the hall. The kingsmould of course chased after her. She was surprisingly fast for her age and height giving the kingsmould a real run for their money. 

She ran down the annoyingly long halls making sharp turns, passed several maids and through a group of royal retainers giggling all the way she went. This was not as fun for the Kingsmould who wasn't used to some much running and was desperately trying to keep up with the young girl without knocking anything or anyone over. If the King were to find out they'd left their position AND lost their weapon they'd trouble. 

  
  
  


They had to stop and wait a while to get their head to stop spinning they had to have been chasing the girl for what must have been an hour. They leaned against the wall and slowly sunk heard the soft tap of foot falls and looked up to see Hornet. She was far enough so that they couldn't just reach out and snatch their claw-blade back but close enough for her annoyance to be clearly seen. 

"You're very slow you know." She looked down at him. 

"You're very annoying you know" The words escaped their mouth before they really had a chance to think about what they had said.

"I am not!" She stomped her foot.

"Whatever you say you royal pain" they shook their head "Can you just give me my claw-blade back. If I don't get back to a position I fear what the king will do with me." They held a hand out.

She stared at his hand for what felt like a century. "Fine." She walked up and placed it in his hand but didn't let go. She stared blankly at his extended hand. They couldn't help but feel bad for the girl. This probably wasn't the first time she was left behind like this. They had an idea but it was probably going to come back and bite them in the ass later.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to be away from my post just a bit longer." They thought aloud getting Hornet's attention. "I'll play with you for just a bit longer then I really have to go."

Her face lit up in the most adorable way they'd ever seen. "Really?"

"Yes, but" they yanked the claw-blade from her hand."This stays with me." They strapped it to their back so it wouldn't get in the way.

"Fine." She pressed her hand to their chest. "Tag!" She quickly ran off down the hall.

"Wait that's not fair you did me dirty!" They stood up fully and ran after her.

She no longer was just running away instead she taunted them by staying just out of reach. On the other side of a table, climbing on to stuff she probably shouldn't. They finally got her when she misjudged the length of a table and they reached across and got her. Luckily for them she definitely was too small to reach across the table. They kept her on the other side of the table from them. When she tried going over top they’d just slide under. She went under they’d simply go over.

“No fair. You're so much bigger than me!" She stomped. The kingsmould just smiled. Hornet stared at them long and hard forming a plan. She turned around and started walking away confusing the kingsmould. 

"Where-" the kingsmould wasn't able to finish they're sentence when Hornet quickly spun around and ran jumping across the table. The kingsmould had no time to react that wouldn’t lead to hurting the young girl. The two collided and fell over

“GOTCHA” She beamed. Before the kingsmould had time to respond a loud ahem caught their attention. The pair looked towards the door to see one of the Pale Kings personal advisers. 

“Princess Hornet your father needs you in his workshop.” 

She rolled off the kingsmould and started walking towards the door. “And I expect you to get back to your post, guard.” He barked the order his voice dripping with venom.

Hornet looked down upset she had gotten her new friend in trouble. She turned and waved at them and received a hesitant wave back. She was then quickly guided out by the adviser.


	3. Catching a New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The young spider meets a future champ and together they catch a beast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hornet is about twelve while Tamer is about thirteen

"Where are we going?" Hornet asked the tall man guiding her. Today was one of the few days she got to visit with her mother, sadly like many times before Herrah couldn't make it and sent others in place of her. The three who were sent were the usual group that would accompany Herrah when she visited. Kinnea, a tall man who wore long red fabric, as a sort of cape, obscuring the rest of his outfit. His skin was much darker than Hornets and he had silver hair. Kuna who looked very similar to Kinnea though he was shorter. Canna was a weaver, a type a specialised soldier. She was tall, not as tall as Kinnea, her skin was darker but not as dark as Kinnea or Kuna and her hair was a deep black.

"I told you, you will find out when we get there." Kinnea said. He was tall and held onto Hornet's hand tightly and walked much to fast for 

“Can you slow down my legs hurt, Kinnea.” Hornet whined digging her heels into the ground in a futile attempt to slow him down. Kinnea let her hand go and she fell back and bumped into Kuna. 

“Kinnea be more careful.” Kuna scolded him as he picked up Hornet. “She could’ve fallen and hurt herself.” Kinnea rolled his eyes and waved him off. 

“She’s not a baby Kuna I’m certain she’s able to handle one measly fall.” Canna said taking Hornet from him a putting her down much to the young girls dismay.

“Well, I guess you're right.” Kuna meekly replied as he took Hornet’s hand. “But really we aren’t in any rush and Kinnea really didn’t need to be walking so fast.”

"I just want to make sure we're on time and this  _ thing _ "he gestured wildly to the kingsmould who followed close behind the group "the king sent with us is slowing us down." Hornet seemed to take offense to Kinnea's choice of words "Their name is Ash.”

“Is that so?” Kinnea asked. “Yeah!” Hornet was quite grumpy and let her tone reflect that. “They didn’t have one so I gave them one!” Kinnea looked to the kingsmould who just avoided making eye contact with the man.

The group eventually made it to their destination, The Colosseum of Fools. While Kuna may have been hesitant about taking Hornet there, it was where Herrah wanted to take her and the King had no objections. Besides kids much younger then Hornet come so it mustn’t be so bad. 

Their seats were near the front, the view wasn’t the worst but it could’ve been better. Hornet was bouncing up and down on the tips of her toes peering over the railing looking at the warriors training and warming up. One stood out amongst them. She wasn’t that tall but she was clearly strong, her armour was light and she didn’t wear any shoes.

Someone came out and ushered the warriors back inside because they were about to begin. The rounds begin with warriors fighting each other and strange monstrous beasts. Canna pointed out certain types of warriors to Hornet and explained why their weapons looked the way they did. When the lady Hornet noticed before came out there was a large roar of cheer from the crowd. Sadly the location they were at didn’t offer the best view so Hornet opted to fix that by getting up and walking away. Her guardians were to wrapped up in conversation and the fight to notice.

She pushed past people and made her way to a better spot. She shoved in between two adults and crouched down to peer through the bars at the lady. The lady was extremely strong, her weapon was throwable and was extremely sharp. The way she moved was graceful and quick moving. 

“Get out of the way” Hornet turned around to look at the owner of the voice. A girl around Hornet’s pushed past a few people and found her way to the spot by Hornet. The girl's hair was a deep black and her outfit was rather masculine, she also had several scrapes and bruises covering her arms and legs. 

Hornet turned her attention back to the center of the colosseum just in time to see the lady defeat another warrior. “Wow she’s so cool.” Hornet spoke absent-mindedly.

“Well of course she is. She’s the champion after all.” The girl beside Hornet responded a bit rudely like it was a crime to not know how great the champion is.

“Oh really?” Hornet looked back at the lady. “That’s so cool! This is my first time coming here.” 

“Oh.” The girl’s tone softened. Hornet turned back to the girl “I’m Hornet by the way.” She held out her hand to the girl. She took it and gave it a quick shake. “You can call me Tamer.”

“It’s nice to meet your acquaintance Tamer.” 

“Same to you” Hornet flashed Tamer a quick smile before turning back to the action.

Hornet didn’t know how long she stayed there with Tamer watching the warriors fight but everybit of it was amazing. She was snapped back when she heard her name being called. Her looking up got the attention of Tamer as well.

“Is everything alright?” Tamer looked at Hornet questioningly.

“Yeah it’s nothing. Hey is there somewhere else that’s cool we could go? ” 

Tamer knew  ** _exactly_ ** what was up but always looking to cause some light mischief, smiled. “Yeah I do.” She grabbed Hornet’s hand. “Let’s go” she said pulling up and Hornet smiled back and while keeping a tight grip on Hornet’s hand guided her away. 

They snuck past several people trying their best to avoid being seen lest someone recognize Hornet. The pair escaped the colosseum and Tamer continued to lead the way. “So where are we going?” Hornet asked looking around. The Eastern Kingdom wasn’t a very pretty place. 

“There’s this spot nearby that has some creatures like the ones they fight in the colosseum! They’re not that big but we don’t have to pick a fight with them.” Tamer explained.

“Well neither of us have any weapons to fight with anyways.” 

“Yeah well I’m certain I’m strong enough to beat them anyways and I can protect you.”

“I don’t need any protection!” Hornet protested. “I’m plenty strong.” 

Tamer laughed and Hornet stuck her tongue out. Tamer let go of her hand to climb up a ledge and Hornet followed. "Okay we got to be quiet so we don't get their attention" Tamer whispered and Hornet nodded. They continued to sneak around and climb up till they saw the beasts. Hornet was amazed at how big they were. Their armored face plating reminded Hornet of the stalking devouts of deepnest. 

"You know," Tamer's voice was low, "I want to tame one of those. Imagine how cool that would be. I want to become a champion when I get older. But I don't even know how I'd go about doing that. All the ones in the Colosseum are too big for me to try."

Copying Tamer's low tone, "It would be best if you tried to snag a young one. You could take care of it and raise it. That way you could form a bond." Tamer looked at Hornet in surprise.

"Okay well how am  ** _I _ ** supposed to do that? The parents are too fast and strong for me to go up against and if I grab one of their kids they'll come after me."

"We need to set a trap" Hornet reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a bundle of thread and a small cookie tin.

"Wait you want to do this now?" Tamer was getting a bit nervous. "Also how is some thread and that tin going to help me?"

"It's weaver thread. It's extremely strong. I make a net and the tin has some snacks we can use as bait." Hornet unwound the thread and started making a net as best as she remembered her mom teaching her. "You should go find a place to set it where we won't have to deal with any adults." 

Tamer was stunned, she really underestimated Hornet. They were actually going to do this? "R-Right. Try not to get caught" She slowly stood.

"You don't get caught either." Tamer laughed at that and promised she wouldn't and began to sneak off. 

It didn't take Hornet all that long to finish her net. She did her best to make it big enough to catch one of the smaller young but it was hard to tell their actual size from so far. While Hornet was finishing off the last tie Tamer came back. “Hey Hornet are you almost done? I just found a  **great ** spot!” Tamer seemed excited.

“Yeah, okay just give one second. You don’t want the net to fall apart do you?” 

“No, I guess not.” Tamer laughed a little, maybe it was her nerves getting to her.

“There. I’m done, let's go.” She bundled her net and grabbed her tin to follow Tamer. 

To spot Tamer found was close to the beasts but not too close that they would be easily spotted, the perfect distance to catch a small beast straying too far away from its herd. “Okay so I will set the trap you go lay out the bait.” Tamer nodded taking the tin and head away slowly and as quietly as possible.

With their trap and bait set all they had to do was sit and wait. “Hey what happens if we catch one and it starts to make noise and attracts the adults.” Tamer quietly questioned. Hornet’s eyes widened “I didn’t think of that.” She shifted nervously. “I guess that means we’ll have to abandon this.”

“No way. We’ve come so far there’s no way we’re giving up. You’ve come up with this plan so far I’m sure you can figure  _ something _ out.” Tamer tried to encourage Hornet. 

“Okay… Maybe we could…” She looked around for something, anything to help. If only she had her pack but she left that with Ash.

“Hey what about we use your poncho?” 

“My… poncho?” 

“Yeah I’ve seen the people at the colosseum do that and it helps calm them.”

“Great thinking!” Hornet took off her poncho and handed it to Tamer.

It didn’t take long for one to fall for their bait. Seeing it come up the girls held their breaths fearing they might startle it. The beast was extremely small, probably the runt, and it looked pretty malnourished. It fell for their trap perfectly. Once it was stuck they moved quickly to attempt to calm it and keep it from giving away their position. It took some wrestling with the beast but it was all that strong and they were able to get it to relax.

Sneaking away was a little tricky but they managed to sneak back to the colosseum. They hadn't forgotten that Hornet was still being looked for so she was going to hide nearby while Tamer sneaks back in to get some more food for their new tiny beast. 

Hornet cradled the beast like a baby and gently pet it trying to keep it calm. Tamer returned with some bread, fruit, and a knife. “I have returned.” She plopped down by Hornet and began cutting the fruit into smaller pieces. She offered a piece to the beast and it hesitantly took it and ate. They repeated this several times. “This is really nice, I had a lot of fun.” 

“I did too. Thanks for showing me around, I had a lot of fun.” 

“It was nothing, I had fun too. Plus now I’m one step closer to accomplishing my dream.”

“Well you can know that I’ll be cheering for you, future champion! Anyways what are you going to name them.” Hornet gestured to the beast in her arms.

“Hmm. It has to be something cool. Something that’s scary and intimidating. Like Thrasher, Blade, Beast, Destroyer.” Tamer continued listing some names.

“What about potato.” Hornet interjected. 

“Potato?” Tamer looked very confused. “Why potato?” Hornet simply replied “Because they’re round like a potato.”

Tamer thought about the name, ”Well I mean it isn’t the coolest name. But it does fit.” She picked another piece of fruit and gave it to the beast. “Potato,” she said quietly like she was testing it out, “yeah I guess Potato works.” 

“The great champion Tamer and her ferocious beast Potato!” Hornet couldn’t help but laugh at that mental image and Tamer couldn’t help but laugh too. Their laughter stopped when someone walked into their hiding spot. 

The person was none other than Ash who had been panicking trying to look for Hornet  ** _everywhere._ ** “Is this where you’ve been the past two hours? What are you holding and who is that?” They were very clearly concerned. 

“No I’ve been out and about the past two hours, this is potato the beast and this is my new friend. Her name is Tamer.” Hornet was very calm like she had done this a million times before. Ash bent down and lifted the small beast off Hornet and handed them to Tamer so they could inspect Hornet for injuries.

“You’re acting like Kuna, Ash. I’m fine.” Hornet protested. “You’re overreacting just like Kuna does.”

“No. I’m really not. What would your mother do if she finds out. What would your father do to  _ me _ if he found out.” Ash got even more panicked. Hornet rolled her eyes and reached for her bag around Ash. She reached out and pulled out a blanket.

“I need my poncho back but you can keep this for potato.” Tamer took it and unwrapped potato and handed the poncho back to Hornet. “I guess this is the end of our adventure huh?” Tamer asked

“Yeah but there is always next time.” She put her poncho on and grabbed Ash’s hand. “Okay we can go.” Ash shook their head but lead Hornet away to find her other guardians. 

Hornet got scolded harshly by Kinnea and Canna but ultimately they relented and were just glad she was. They decided they’d tell Herrah about Hornet’s adventure but not a word was to be spoken to the King.

For the rest of the day all Hornet could think about was her new friend and potato. She definitely had to go back, how else was she supposed to cheer Tamer on.


End file.
